With 56 days left in this election, our campaign now has large-scale operations in over 20 states, with medium-sized operations in many, many others. But paid staff are just one small part of what campaign manager David Plouffe has described as "a persuasion army," explaining that:

A human being talking to another human being who is a swing voter trying to figure out what to do in this election is a very powerful thing.

In communities across the country, volunteers are organizing neighborhood by neighborhood to register voters, win over new supporters, recruit volunteers and help turn out supporters on election day

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

This morning, Senator Obama responded to President Bush's speech on Iraq and Afghanistan today...

Good morning. I’d like to comment on the President’s speech. First, let me acknowledge the extraordinary and courageous work that our troops have done in both Iraq and Afghanistan. They have performed brilliantly under extremely difficult circumstances.

Today, President Bush announced very modest troop redeployments from Iraq. Meanwhile, we will continue to keep nearly 140,000 troops in Iraq while our military is overstretched, which is still at pre-surge levels. We will continue to spend $10 billion a month in Iraq while the Iraqi government sits on a $79 billion surplus. In the absence of a timetable to remove our combat brigades, we will continue to give Iraq’s leaders a blank check instead of pressing them to reconcile their differences. So the President’s talk of “return on success” is a new name for continuing the same strategic mistake that has dominated our foreign policy for over 5 years.

President Bush also announced additional troops for Afghanistan. I am glad that the President is moving in the direction of the policy that I have advocated for years. But the most substantial increase will come when an additional Army brigade is deployed five months from now – in February, after the President has left office. His plan comes up short – it is not enough troops, and not enough resources, with not enough urgency.

What President Bush and Senator McCain don’t understand is that the central front in the war on terror is not in Iraq, and it never was – the central front is in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the terrorists who hit us on 9/11 are still plotting attacks seven years later. Today, the Taliban is on the offensive, al Qaeda has a new sanctuary, and its leaders are putting out videotapes. Yet under President Bush’s plan, we still have nearly four times more troops in Iraq than Afghanistan, and we have no comprehensive plan to deal with the al Qaeda sanctuary in northwest Pakistan.

Now, the choice for the American people could not be clearer. John McCain has been talking a lot about change, but he’s running for four more years of the same foreign policy that we’ve had under George Bush. Senator McCain will continue the overwhelming focus on Iraq that has taken our eye off of the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11. And Senator McCain goes even further than President Bush in opposing the sovereign Iraqi government’s own support for a timetable to redeploy our troops, and he has no plan to press the Iraqis to reconcile.

It’s time to change our foreign policy. I will succeed in Iraq by responsibly removing our combat brigades and pressing Iraqis to stand up for their future. I will rebuild our military. I will finally have a comprehensive strategy to finish the job in Afghanistan – with more troops, more training for Afghan security forces, more development resources, more anti-corruption safeguards, and more of a focus on eliminating the Taliban and al Qaeda sanctuary along the Pakistan border. And I will stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq so that we can invest in our economy here at home.

Last week, we heard a lot of tough talk in St. Paul, but we didn’t hear much about the Bush-McCain record. Because seven years after 9/11, we are still fighting a war without end in Iraq and we still haven’t taken out the terrorists responsible for 9/11. We heard no explanation for why Osama bin Laden is still at large, because that’s where George Bush and John McCain’s judgment has gotten us. President Bush’s speech today underscored that we cannot afford more of the same.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

WMD alert -- good reason to get Bush and Company out and end this nightmare
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FACT CHECK is found somewhat wanting in its Palin "facts" -- not noting that Todd Palin is part of the Alaskans for Independence -- just goes to show how difficult objectivity is --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sen. Barack Obama holds a small lead in four key battleground states -- Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado and Wisconsin -- according to a new poll conducted by Quinnipiac University.

"The best news for Sen. Obama in the new surveys may come in Colorado, where he has moved to a four percentage point lead, 49% to 45%, after being down by a percentage point in August," according to the Wall Street Journal. "That means Colorado presents a good opportunity for Sen. Obama to swing a Republican state to his favor this year."

President Bush won the state in 2000 and 2004

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

"There is the one most serious abuse a man or a woman, or a government, can engage in...is to abuse power," Biden noted in a segue to the economy. While no particular person was named, Biden's opponent, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, was found in a report released on Friday related to the "Troopergate" investigation to have abused her power in violation of Alaska's state ethics law

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

In Florida, Democratic lawyer Charles H. Lichtman has assembled almost 5,000 lawyers to monitor precincts, assist voters turned away at the polls and litigate any disputes that can't be resolved out of court.

``On Election Day, I will be managing the largest law firm in the country, albeit for one day,'' said Lichtman, 53, a Fort Lauderdale corporate lawyer and veteran of the five-week recount after the 2000 election when Florida eventually delivered the presidency to George W. Bush.

Obama's lawyers also have pressed allegations that Michigan Republicans planned to use mortgage foreclosure lists to challenge voters. The case was settled today when both parties agreed not to use foreclosure lists to challenge voters. Indiana labor unions allied with Democratic presidential nominee Obama, an Illinois senator, are battling a Republican chairman over early voting in the state's second-largest county.

2002 Law

Much of the partisan disagreement is over enforcing a 2002 law enacted by Congress to help states prevent a Florida-type recount by requiring election officials to set up database checks to purge voters.

Vote early...if you can.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

Robert Gibbs told reporters aboard Obama's plane that Madelyn Payne Dunham, who helped raise Obama, was released from the hospital late last week. But he said her health had deteriorated "to the point where her situation is very serious.". . . more at link

Now I'm pissed. The lead story on the local news: Obama Suspends Campaign. Cancelling a couple of appearances, sending your wife in your stead, and visiting a deathly ill grandparent is not suspending a campaign. It is doing the human thing but to liken it to McWar's fake suspension just plain pisses me off.

_________________“I'm not a member of any organized party. I'm a Democrat.”-Will Rogers

There are several headlines like that to lead into the story, especially when it was first announced last night, APL. Even at Huffington Post, the huge headline was OBAMA LEAVING CAMPAIGN TRAIL...and the photo showed him grimly heading up the steps of his campaign plane. No doubt the wingers were hoping that he was calling it quits and conceding the election! LOL!

Initially, this bothered me, too... because I do think it is a way to "spin" a story by a media who are running out of things to say to try to shore up the McCain campaign. By now though, everybody interested should know that Obama is going to see his ailing grandmother. I HOPE it will be seen as another indication of how Obama views "family values." Biden took time off when his mother-in-law died, too.

What did the McCain campaign do recently when Cindy McCain's half sister died? Anything?

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

The 85-year-old former bank executive is said to be "gravely ill" after falling and breaking her hip, and some reports suggest she might not live to see the results of the Nov. 4 election. Whatever happens, she's already lived long enough to see her "Barry" achieve what she'd wanted for him, her brother says.

"I think she thinks she was important in raising a fine young man," Charles Payne, 83, said in a brief telephone interview Tuesday from his Chicago home. "I doubt if it would occur to her that he would go this far this fast. But she's enjoyed watching it."

Although he made his mark thousands of miles from the Honolulu apartment where she helped raise him, Obama and others credit Dunham _ whose birthday is Sunday _ with instilling in him an appreciation for education and hard work, and with setting an example of thrift, practicality and tolerance.

Hang in there, Grandma Toot! You raised a fantastic young man who is bringing hope and inspiration to us all!

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama is bouncing from one patch of Republican turf to another this week. Virginia is his stomping grounds on Wednesday, as he continues his assault on Republican John McCain's economic proposals while also introducing national security differences into the final-stretch mix.

The endorsement over the weekend of Obama by longtime Republican Colin Powell, the former secretary of state under President Bush, gives the Democrat an opening to go on the offensive on foreign affairs. The topic is generally considered his weakest against McCain, but Powell's backing undercut McCain's perceived dominance.

So, while in the Virginia capital on Wednesday, Obama and running mate Joe Biden planned to meet with a group of national security advisers to the campaign. Obama planned to talk publicly after the discussion about his approach to world affairs, and how it differs from McCain's.

That doesn't mean the economy won't remain front and center with less than two weeks to go before Election Day.

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman